


fourth times the charm

by faytfinx



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Cockblocking, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Tsukkiyama Secret Santa 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-07 03:58:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13426332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faytfinx/pseuds/faytfinx
Summary: One would think that as the second prince to a relatively peaceful kingdom, he would have more leisure time to spend with his beloved knight. It seemed that his friends and family had other plans for them.





	fourth times the charm

**Author's Note:**

> hello, this is a gift for aubergineinfatuation @ tumblr for the tsukkiyama gift exchange 2017! although I'm not super well versed in writing fantasy aus, I tried by best to do your prince/knight prompt! I hope you enjoy it, Gwyneth!

Tsukishima Kei was surprisingly busy despite not being the crowned prince of the Moon Kingdom. He honestly thought without that title, he would have more free time to relax and read all the books he'd been eyeing in the grand library. What he didn't take into consideration was the possibility of his eldest brother and crowned prince, Tsukishima Akiteru, being incompetent when it came to political matters. 

So maybe incompetent was a little too harsh of a word; his older brother was too considerate to think about political matters objectively, which led to a few problems in the affairs of the kingdom. In the end, the younger Tsukishima brother had to step in and take his place in the politics and issues of the land and its people. The elder brother still held the title as crowned prince though. The royal family, the brothers included, decided it would be best for him to be the face of the kingdom; the last thing Tsukishima Kei wanted to do was fake a smile and make a grand speech in front of hundred and hundreds of strangers he had to take care of as their ruler. So while the crowned prince has audiences with the Moon Kingdom citizens on the throne, the young prince did his work behind the scenes in the comfort of his cozy office.

Almost everyone in the castle knew about the mechanics of the princes' working relationship so misunderstandings would arise and everyone understood who to go to on what matters. Unfortunately, that also meant the constant interactions Tsukishima Kei had to endure.

To wind down from all the stress, he would do things by himself or look for Yamaguchi to relax. And today was a meet-up-with-Yamaguchi kind of day.

The second prince had just signed the last document for the day and placed it on the pile of completed reports. With the last file done, he could finally relax for the next few days (at least that was his hope). He let out a sigh of relief, placed his quill pen back into its holder and capped the ink bottle. Sliding his glasses to rest above his forehead, Kei lightly pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut as a reward for his work. 

It was the middle of the afternoon so the sun was just starting to set but it was still bright enough to appreciate going outside for a short amount of time, he thought. That also meant enough quality time to spend with Yamaguchi if he could find the boy early enough. Yamaguchi was probably sparring with his fellow peers out in the training grounds as per usual.

Sliding his glasses back into place, he got up from chair, tidying up his workspace and smoothed out his clothing before leaving the confines of his study in as much calmness he could muster with his thoughts revolving around finding the freckled boy.

He walked through the halls at a casual pace, nodding to those who greeted him as they crossed paths. Eventually, he arrived to his destination as he left the castle to the outside training grounds scanning the crowd of young men sparring with one another. After one brief sweep, his eyes immediately found Yamaguchi crossing wooden swords with Kuroo. Tsukishima smirked, crossing his arms as he watched the match. Of course Yamaguchi would duel Kuroo, their best known swordsman on castle ground. The sly man was known for his strong defense and accurate strikes. Yamaguchi, on the other hand, trained for surprise attacks; his unconventional posture made it difficult for his opponents to read his next move. While he had been training for years, the only thing he lacked in comparison to Kuroo was experience. So Tsukishima wasn't surprised nor disappointed to watch as Yamaguchi halting all his actions at the sight of his opponent's wooden blade only inches from his neck.

"My win," concluded Kuroo with a smirk as he lightly pokes Yamaguchi's throat. The piercing gaze that was directed at him disappates into a light laugh, his eyes crinkling with his smile as he lowers his blade.

"Aw man, I thought I was going to win this time," said Yamaguchi as he took a step away from the sword touching his neck and sat down on the hard ground.

"You're ten years too early to beat me, kiddo."

"You're not that much older than me, Kuroo!"

"My wins say otherwise: twenty one to three."

"I think you mean twenty to four; playing dirty counts," interrupted the second prince, announcing his presence just with his words.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi smiled upon seeing the blond crouch down next to him.

"Hey, he ambushed me when I was talking to Hinata," claimed the black haired swordsman.

"You threw dirt at me in one of our duels!" the younger swordsman argued back, feeling distress just from the memory of it, "besides, you were the one that said 'we have to do anything in order to survive a fight -- even if it's dirty', remember?"

A smirk rose up on Kuroo's face.

"I'm glad you adapted well, Yamaguchi," he joked, patting him on the head.

"And I'm glad you figured that all out," Tsukishima said plainly, smacking Kuroo's hand away from the knight before he continued, "now I need Yamaguchi so I'm taking him." The blon rose up from his spot and watched Yamaguchi so the same with a bounce staring right back at him. 

Kuroo whistled watching the pair before turning away from them, waving them off as they left the training grounds side by side. 

"Have fun being lovely dovey you two!" The black haired man teased with an extra loud voice making all their peers turn their eyes to the three of them. Tsukishima sneered in the direction of the older man. Yamaguchi noticed a light blush on his cheeks, stifling a laugh behind the prince's back before taking a hold of his arm and tugging to bring the boy's attention back to him. 

"C'mon, let's go, Tsukki," Yamaguchi continued to lightly pull until Tsukishima conceded and turned away from the rest of the curious gazes which also eventually stopped.

The second prince pulled his arm away from his knight's grip to interlock it with his own hand and led them away from the castle and to the garden.

It was relatively empty with only butterflies and bees buzzing around them. Tsukishima stopped by the rose bushes on the side and sat down on the grass in front of them, leaning on the fence beside the flowers. Their hands were still together so the prince urged Yamaguchi to sit down with him.

It was quiet. And then Yamaguchi spoke up.

"What was the important thing you needed me to do, Tsukki?"

Tsukishima was silent staring into his knight's eyes before averting his gaze.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see you."

Yamaguchi's eyes widened. His face lit up with happiness as he left his cheeks warm up from the sudde confession.

"Wahhh," Yamaguchi whined, wrapping his arms around Tsukishima's waist playfully, "I love you too, Tsukki! It's been so long since we've last talked."

“Four days,” the prince specified also regretfully. “I’m sorry, Yamaguchi.” 

The dark haired knight let out a snicker, shaking his head.

“It’s okay. I understand that you’re a busy little prince,” he murmured, leaning onto the other boy, “besides, this is still nice.”

Tsukishima looked around as his knight clung to him, putting his arm around Yamaguchi’s back. The dark haired boy shifted his body so he could sit on top of Tsukishima’s thighs comfortably, wrapping himself around the other boy tighter as he hid his face onto Tsukishima’s shoulder. The sun was setting as they held each other in the peaceful garden. Devoid of any other human life beside the pair, the blond boy could feel his stressed body slowly relax in the embrace of his partner. He occasionally heard the chirping of birds from the nearby forest. Tsukishima rubbed small circles onto the other boy’s back. 

“Yamaguchi.”

“Hm?” The other boy hummed in response, lifting his head and leaning back to stare into Tsukishima’s eyes with their face only inches away. His gaze flickered downwards before looking back up. A smile crept up. Tsukishima mirrored the look with a smirk. Slowly, Yamaguchi started leaning in closer and closer. Their lips were centimeters apart –

“Yamaguchi!” A pitched voice cried out.

The pair immediately pulled apart, the dark haired boy squeaked as he scrambled to remove himself from Tsukishima. He shot up from his sitting position to regard the caller as Tsukishima clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Yes, I’m here!”

Tsukishima could see a mop of orange hair emerge as their interruption came closer.

“Kuroo was looking for you; he told me you’re on duty at the bar tonight.”

Yamaguchi groaned. 

“Duty – more like keep them company as they all get drunk and I have to haul them all back to their sleeping quarters.”

Hinata laughed, patting his back. 

“Good luck with that. I heard Bokuto was joining in this time.”

Yamaguchi groaned again. 

“On the bright side, Kageyama isn’t going this time,” mentioned the shorter boy. There was a sigh of relief. 

“That’s good to hear,” he replied as the orange haired boy grinned once before leaving the two alone with a wave.

Silence.

“…”

“I lost a bet yesterday so this was the punishment,” Yamaguchi turned to look at Tsukishima apologetically. 

“…” He was unimpressed as the dark haired boy smiled weakly.

“I’m sorry, Tsukki.” 

“…that’s fine,” the blond grumbled as Yamaguchi let out a short laugh, holding his hand out for the prince to take and get up himself. The knight gave his prince a quick kiss on the cheek, startling him for a brief moment.

“I’ll see you later then, Tsukki,” the dark haired boy smiled sadly to which Tsukishima responded with a nod and he was on his way out of the garden, leaving the blond alone. 

To say Tsukishima was annoyed the rest of the day would be an understatement. Fortunately, many of those close to him were unfazed by his mood enough to approach him that night with good intentions. Even if it was just to bother him. 

\------

Thankfully, Tsukishima didn't have any papers to process through the next day just as he expected. Going through a mental image of his schedule, it meant he was relatively free. Which also meant more time to spend with Yamaguchi if he could find the boy again. And although he usually wouldn't exercise the power of his status often, he'd be damned if the young knight was taken away from him for something trivial again.

The second prince intended to go back to the training grounds to see if Yamaguchi was there again but in the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar mop of dark hair and freckles disappear into a corner of the hallway. His instinct told him to run in order to catch up to him. 

"Yama--"

"P-prince Kei!"

His body froze mid step before his form briefly slumped before as he stood straight again and turned around to face the caller.

"What do you need, Yachi?" The petite girl squeaked when she saw his impassive expression. She immediately knew, he was in a bad mood which made her panic even more.

"Y-your b-brother requested f-for your p-presence immediately," her voice slowly turned into a murmur the more he stared her down with dark eyes, "th-the neighbouring r-royal family came to..."

Even without knowing the full explanation, he knew the purpose of the request regardless. The blonde prince clicked his tongue, making the girl flinch and look to the floor. 

A beat of silence passed between the two of them. Yachi felt dread crawl up her neck. Was he going to force her to take care of the horses as punishment for making him mad? Feed her to dogs? EXECUTE HER? Her thoughts continued to spiral out of control until she heard a sigh and a breath of thanks.

Huh?

Her eyes traveled upwards to see Tsukishima's expression had softened. It was no longer cold and deadly but rather calm. 

"Thank you, Yachi," he repeated, recognizing the dumbfounded look on her face that she didn't hear it the first time.

"I'll go see my brother so you don't need to report back to him. You can do your other duties now."

"O-okay." 

And he left. 

As much as Tsukishima wanted to ignore the request, his word couldn't beat those higher than his -- especially (and unfortunatly) his brother's. So what could he do but concede and got it done as soon as possible.

What the second prince thought was a formal meeting with the neighbouring royal family turned out to be a casual get together which resulted in him supervising (also read as chasing down) three children all less than half his age for the rest of the day. It may or may not have ended with some property damage and a fainting Yachi.

\---------

It would be a lie to say Tsukishima wasn't craving alone time with Yamaguchi after the havoc that was babysitting the day before.

That being said, the freckled seemed to be nowhere in sight when Tsukishima looked all around the castle the next morning. His hopes of finding time with the other boy dashed right out of the door when he found Kageyama munching on breakfast in the kitchen. The dark haired boy noticed the second prince's flitting gaze around the room. And before their brief exchange in the kitchen, Kageyama had seen Tsukishima wander the hallways too. He didn't even need to ask.

"Yamaguchi's making rounds in town today."

Silence filled the room, the servants were all still in place -- the cooks halted their cutting of vegetables, a maid was stuck on her tippy toes reach for tableware from the cupboards above her head, others were in mid bite of their meal. No eyes were on him, but they were focused on what his reaction was going to be.

Tsukishima was a generally reasonable person, but the past two days were testing him and everyone in the castle could feel it. Even the crowned prince could yell his little brother's was getting sour (but that didn't stop him from teasing him on a regular basis).

Kageyama's eyes never left the second prince's appearance: the widening of his eyes, the twitch of his fingers, a frown that started to form -- almost becoming a scowl. The servants heard a breath.

"Thanks." And Tsukishima left the room. Everyone instantly relaxed from the tense atmosphere but knew it wouldn't be over. 

Tsukishima stayed inside his study for majority of the day, many presumed to finish paperwork early. Others also was him walk into the library. No one tried to bother the prince for the rest of the day. 

The sun was beginning to set when he thought it was time to retire to his bedroom. With no motivation for the day, the blond boy felt lethargic. He closed the book in his hands shut and got up from the ground by the bookshelves, storing away the novel into its rightful place before leaving the large room.

The halls were quiet around his bedroom, unusually so. Those who passed by him, smiled with their bow as he acknowledged them with a nod. They almost seemed to be knowing smiles but he didn't have the energy to bite them for their odd attitude. He just wanted to rest at this point. 

Entering his room, he noticed the curtains were drawn together. Did he forget to open in the morning? No, he wasn't the kind of person to miss something like that. Tsukishima silently closed his door, looking around his room for signs of intrusion. Although it was dark with the curtains together, he didn't want to show his back to the room. 

"Who's there?" he called out.

It was small, but his eyes zeroed in on the movement in his bed. The lump under the blankets was shuffling. Whoever was hiding there was quite languid, he noticed. When the figure emerged from the soft fabric, Tsukishima immediately recognized them even in the dark.

"Good morning, Tsukki," greeted a sluggish sounding Yamaguchi with a light smile and low-lidded eyes directed towards the blond. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and the prince felt his chest warm up at the sight; he could feel his body loosen from all the stress that had built up over the days. 

“It’s not morning yet. What are you doing here? I heard you were on duty today,” he asked, walking towards his bed where Yamaguchi nested. 

“I got off early because Kageyama took my shift,” the sleepy boy replied, smiling brighter the closer Tsukishima got. Tsukishima was going to have to thank Kageyama later for doing him a favour (even though he never asked for it – he appreciated the gesture). The prince unbuttoned his jacket, took off his outerwear and removed all his accessories on his body, placing everything on the nightstand beside the bed as neatly as possible.

“I see. Now move over,” he waved at Yamaguchi with the back of his hand which the dark haired boy easily complied, making enough room on the double bed to fit his slender partner. Tsukishima fit himself under the covers and pulled it over the both of them, wrapping himself around Yamaguchi in a loose hug with his hands on the other boy’s waist. Yamaguchi grinned as he stared at the face directly in front of him being comforted by the pillows.

“So I heard you were sulking without me around.”

A deep blush started to form on Tsukishima’s face.

“I wasn’t sulking.” 

“You sure?”

“Upset, yes. But I wasn’t sulking.”

“Sure, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi giggled. Of course he didn’t believe him. “I’m glad you missed me that much because I missed you too.” And with that statement, he leaned into to give Tsukishima a chaste kiss on the lips before snuggling into the blond’s neck and wrapping his arms around him even tighter. Tsukishima groaned as he felt his face grow hotter from being caught off guard.

“Yamaguchi. You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Hehe, sorry, Tsukki.” There was a giggle before the blond heard a yawn from under him. 

“Let’s just go to sleep.” Yamaguchi hummed in approval.

“Goodnight, Yamaguchi.”

“Goodnight, Kei.”

“…Yamaguchi—“

After a few good minutes of some more teasing, the pair was able to get some well appreciated rest.


End file.
